Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Resolution
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However, even if they eliminated Lucamine, the problem still remained. It was the matter of the marriage between Prince Trius of the Remus Kingdom and Princess Canibella.
Lansien's head throbbed. It had been nearly a year since she vanished—no one knew if she was alive or dead. How could they possibly send her to the Remus Kingdom? She had no time for idle rest.
"The Remus Kingdom is demanding we hurry up and hand over the princess."
She spoke to Muira while reading the official letter from the Remus Kingdom. Muira, who left everything to her daughter anyway, simply finished her cookie and said nothing.
"Any good ideas?"
Lansien just asked outright. She pondered in silence.
'What should I do?'
The Rasoni Kingdom hadn't announced it publicly, and the Luminir Empire hadn't said much either, so Canibella's whereabouts remained a complete mystery. But the Remus Kingdom knew nothing.
There was no need to tell them she had disappeared and unnecessarily anger them. Among the four kingdoms, the weakest Rasoni Kingdom lacked the power to stand against them.
"There is a way."
But there had always been a way, and she had overcome trials brilliantly through it before. So she would succeed this time too.
"How about this?"
A public notice went up across the kingdom. It stated that talented nobles wishing to work in other kingdoms could submit applications to the kingdom, and after strict screening, they would be dispatched. Those selected would receive rigorous training and compensation from the state.
But there was a condition: only women.
Both commoners and nobles found it odd. Most female nobles were already working for the royal family or their houses. No one understood why the queen was taking this step.
Male nobles occasionally got dispatched to other kingdoms. But for women, it was different. Unlike in Rasoni, women in other kingdoms were still pawns for political marriages.
This made the palace's move even hotter gossip. People buzzed.
"What on earth is she thinking?"
"Should I give it a shot?"
"I've always wanted to go abroad. Perfect timing."
Noble families debated sending their daughters. Mostly poorer families with many daughters got their consent and submitted applications to the palace. The applications piled up.
"Ha, I didn't realize our kingdom had so many noble houses."
Lansien chuckled as she sorted the documents. Most were from viscount and baron daughters. She was relieved. Explaining rejections would have been tricky if higher nobles had applied.
A week passed sorting papers, and interviews began. Roughly seventy noble daughters awaited selection.
Lansien smirked coldly as she watched the daughters undergo palace entry checks. Fifty had already been weeded out. No one could know the truth behind this, so fewer sacrifices were better.
"Take the daughters on this list to the right room and send them home."
"Yes, understood."
The maid then brought twenty daughters to the interview room. Proper interviews started, and many were eliminated.
The line seemed endless. She carefully evaluated various factors.
'So many.'
But she felt no boredom. One of them had to meet the criteria, so she focused intently. As it neared the end, the door opened, and a noble daughter entered.
She smiled. This one would do.
That young face and age matching Prince Trius's tastes, the innocent smile untouched by the world, and above all, the perfect match with Canibella's golden hair and blue eyes.
"Is there a country you'd like to go to?"
"I want to go to the Remus Kingdom. They say its economy is backward, and I'd like to check if my ideas fit."
"I see... Good work."
Perfect—she even wanted Remus. Ideal. Lansien smirked inwardly. At "good work," the attending maid approached the daughter.
"This way, please."
The maid led her to a different room from the others. The daughter followed into a small room. Lansien stretched and wrote a letter, then rang the bell. A servant appeared. She handed him the letter.
"Deliver this to Her Majesty the Empress Mother."
The letter said the candidate was chosen, so prepare items and orders to take. She smiled slyly. The daughter's fate was sealed.
Meanwhile, Muira received Lansien's letter and discreetly ordered a dress, flowers, carriage, jewelry, cosmetics, and shoes. She marveled at her daughter finding a perfect match so quickly.
'As expected of my daughter. How does she come up with such brilliant ideas!'
She simply signed the letter to send to Remus and stretched. She checked the content again. Laughter bubbled up. With this nagging worry gone, everything felt refreshingly clear.
[The princess, bedridden by illness, has finally risen and heads to fulfill the eternal covenant with the kingdom.]
Muira inwardly felt relieved. The Luminir Empire's silence allowed this grand deception to unfold.
Moreover, Remus was distracted by its own succession struggles, blind to other kingdoms' affairs. It was fortunate all around.
The young noble daughter who would endure Prince Trius's filthy tastes was pitiable, but Muira's pity was smaller than a speck of dust—she wasn't the compassionate type. She was just glad her own path to survival had opened.
Then Lansien entered.
"Empress Mother."
"Hm? What is it?"
Muira knew from long experience that when her daughter spoke curtly like that, something dissatisfied her. Anxiety stirred.
"Shouldn't you greet the selectee? What are you doing right now?"
"Oh, right... Yes, I should."
Scolded by her daughter once more, Muira headed to the selectee's room. Lansien followed. Muira feared her daughter but said nothing, just walked silently.
"Ah, Y-Your Majesty the Queen, Princess. I am Yukir, daughter of Viscount Entir."
Opening the door, the selectee sat alone. Her eyes were red. Revulsion surged in Lansien. What could make her cry like that? Truly pathetic, speechless weakness.
She despised those who cried. Crying was for those with the luxury of time. She had no such luxury for tears.
As a child, she expressed emotions freely. But at some point, she had to fight siblings for the succession. In that brutal struggle, tears were an unaffordable luxury. To survive, she grew ruthless.
When she won, her emotions were already broken. Then the kingdom fell, her father died. Her tears dried up.
She barely understood tears anymore. That's why she hated those who shed them.
'Calm down.'
But she couldn't ruin things over something trivial. She pursued the future over the present, easily discarding her feelings.
"We're just here to inform you of your selection, Lady. You're still inexperienced but have room to grow, so we chose you. Keep it secret from others."
"Y-Yes, thank you!"
Yukir rejoiced purely. Lansien swallowed a sneer, smiling brightly on the surface.
"We wish you a future filled with happiness."
Yukir couldn't close her mouth at Lansien's smile. If the world's most beautiful smile existed, it was this.
Lansien was famed among nobles as the Ice Princess—beautiful but lifeless, like a statue. Many saw her smirks, but no one her radiant smile.
Yet she held the title of continent's top beauty princess. When she deliberately charmed, no one resisted. Her smile enchanted even Yukir.
"Ah..."
Yukir lost herself in it, then snapped back, shouting she'd work hard.
"Then we'll be in your care."
With that, Lansien headed to the garden opposite Muira. She sat quietly in a corner. A maid approached and bowed.
"You called?"
"Take that girl to the Remus Kingdom with you. Return immediately upon arrival."
"Yes, understood. Like with the queen, use that?"
"Of course."
The maid rose and entered Yukir's room with tea.
"Who are you?"
"Sent by Princess Lansien."
"Yes, come in."
The maid entered, lit incense, and prepared tea.
"A gift from the princess."
Yukir was touched by Lansien's care. The tea's color was odd, but she drank without suspicion. Her vision blurred, mind floated pleasantly.
"It's delicious..."
'She's hooked.'
The maid noted the drug's effect on Yukir's dazed expression, inwardly mocking her innocence. This drug slowly eroded the mind over time, turning people into dolls.
It was a narcotic. Ingested any way, it induced hallucinations or allowed control. That's how the queen had moved at Lansien's will for so long.
But instant effects were rare, and sturdy bodies resisted. Most cases involved steady addiction. Yukir would be too.
'For her, just adjust the lethal dose slightly.'
Yukir didn't seem trained in swordsmanship or exercise—just an ordinary person.
For a month, the maid visited daily, burning incense and leaving tea. Yukir became a soulless doll, married against her will, defiled by Prince Trius.
* * *
"Handled well?"
Lansien asked the man beside her expressionlessly.
"Yes, perfectly."
A neatly dressed man reported. They'd disguised the dispatched daughters as bandit victims, killed them cleanly, and disposed of bodies.
'No one can know the full story.'
Lansien didn't want any daughter knowing their scheme. So she killed them all cleanly. Pretended to search for a month, then brought unidentified corpses, apologized for failing to protect their daughters—heroes for the nation—and held a state funeral.
Nobles could say nothing. The palace had searched diligently and praised their daughters' contributions. They could only regret their foolish choice forever.
"It'll be chaotic for a while."
"But it won't hinder our goals."
"Obviously."
Having resolved major issues in succession, she'd been rewarded by Muira. For the first time in ages, she ventured out. Hooded, she slipped into back alleys familiarly.
"Eek, money... Eek!"
A beggar approached for coin but fled in terror at the crest on her hood.
"You know, then scram."
They glanced at the fleeing beggar and reached a shabby house.
"This way."
Following the man, she saw a long table piled with documents in the center room, surrounded by many people.
"Everyone, it's been a while."
"Glad you're safe."
"I'm always safe—no need to worry."
Lansien spoke indifferently, surveying them. These were her true subordinates, her right hands.
"Alright, let's start the meeting."